Janette MacKinlay, February 26, 1948 â€“ December 9, 2010

It is with a very heavy heart that I feel compelled to share the news with the Truth Movement that our beloved Janette MacKinlay, 9/11 survivor, activist, organizer, author, artist passed away yesterday morning. We will always miss her.

Janette's book- Fortunate: A Personal Diary of 9/11

Janette lived across the street from the World Trade Center in 2001 and was not merely a witness to the attacks, but survived, along with her fellow artist and companion, Jim Lecce, when their artloftâ€™s windows were broken and their apartment filled with dust and debris when the World Trade Center tower came down. Janetteâ€™s book, Fortunate: A Personal Diary of 9/11 is a vivid account of her experiences. She has told her story many times, in presentations, to radio, television, print media. Janette also changed as her story, and the larger story have continued to unfold over the years, granting her more and more insight into her own experience, that of other survivors, and victimsâ€™ family members, as well as a deeper understanding of the larger political realities that continue to be discovered by the truth movement. Janetteâ€™s evolution can be seen in her art and through her actions, over the years. Her story is a powerful one and I hope that someday a great filmmaker will be able to piece it together, right now it is scattered in many documentaries, many places, entwined with many other narratives. Janette was a very important bridge between many people whose lives were deeply changed by the events of September 11th.

September 11, 2001 - Janette MacKinlay in the dust near Ground Zero

I remember some things that she said again and again about the deafening noise of the towers collapse and the incredible silence in the aftermath (or maybe their ears actually were damaged and they did become literally deafened in the wake of the collapse). Janette, as well as many others suffered from post traumatic stress, in the aftermath, and she tried to heal herself through her artwork, the beautiful, gentle, ancient art of Ikebana, the Japanese art of floral arrangements. However, she knew that those immediately in the vicinity of the towers, who heard the noise, breathed the air, felt and were transformed to the marrow of their bones by an event which would forever haunt them.

When she was suddenly diagnosed with brain cancer last February, she knew instantly what the cause was â€“ 9/11, the dustâ€¦

Dust at her apartment across the street from the WTC towers

Janette appears in the latest Loose Change documentary- Loose Change: 9/11 An American Coup, telling about how when she returned to her apartment to gather what valuables survived, not just the attack, but the looting that took place, she saved some of the dust and gave some to Professor Steven E. Jones when he realized that analysis of the dust would provide important clues into what really happened.

Janette moved back to her home in Oakland in 2001 and I only met her for the first time in 2005 when the 9/11 Commissioners were addressing the Commonwealth Club in San Francisco. They are the ones who convinced Janette that they were lying and covering up the truth. I traded a copy of David Ray Griffinâ€™s book- The New Pearl Harbour- Disturbing Questions about the Bush Administration and 9/11 for a copy of her book. On that same day, my friend, Blaine Machan, who created the Deception Dollar gave me her name and phone number via e-mail. She was distributing some of our Deception Dollars at one of her art exhibitions.

I invited her to the Northern California 9/11 Truth Alliance meetings, and also persuaded her to become our treasurer that autumn. We became friends and worked together on many events and projects.

Janette with Oakland North reporter, Laura Callahan, at her home 9/2009

Janette had a beautiful home and was a wonderful hostess, and we had a lot of â€śmailing partiesâ€ť at her home, as well as just â€śparties and celebrationsâ€ť for many reasons (including to celebrate the wedding of Jim Hoffman and Victoria Ashley), visits of activists from other parts of the country, whom she often hosted at her home. She held a fundraiser there for the 9th Annual Northern California 9/11 Film Festival which was also a benefit for Architects and Engineers for 9/11 Truth and NYCCAN.

Janette with her giant Ikebana sculpture- "Wake Up Call"- note the two blue towers and the dramatic explosion...

She believed strongly in accountability and spent time in the office of Attorney-General Jerry Brown (our newly elected governor) to push him to look into and take on a new investigation into 9/11. She also approached Senator Barbara Boxer and others, and encouraged her peers to contact the media and put pressure on elected officials, as well. She had a tremendous amount of courage and heart, inspiring many people to take action. She was tremendously loyal, encouraging and supporting those who stuck their necks out to organize events, to speak, to take action.

Proud grandma with her one week old grandson, Huxley

She was proud of her two sons, Mark and Brian, and most delighted when her grandson, Huxley was born. She had planned to take care of Huxley two days a week, when suddenly one evening her speech center was impaired by the tumor and the hospital determined something was seriously wrong.

Many of us urged Janette to try some non-traditional treatments, but she had confidence in the medical profession and her sons who rushed to her side to help her through the initial biopsy, surgery, radiotherapy, chemotherapy.

Janette sent me this photo entitling it "realism"

After the surgery, she suffered from aphasia (which limited her ability to talk, but she understood everything she heard). For awhile she surrounded herself with art, beauty, family, and friends, but she was drawn back to the Truth Movement, joined us to have dinner with Bob Bowman and his wife, Maggie, when they visited the Bay Area last summer. A stroke impaired the right side of her body and curtailed her ability to walk.

In November, we held healing circles for Janette (and sent some healing energy to Jim Lecce, Chuck Millar, and David Ray Griffin) too. At the same time, we also worked on an art project that Janette had begun before her illness, and we packaged some beautiful art cards which featured photos of some of her Ikebana creations.

Anchored to Earth

Spring Breeze

I last saw her on November 23rd when hospice was visiting for the first time and her sons had replaced her regular bed with a hospital bed. We did a very small healing circle and I was afraid that it might be the last time I saw her.

A very old friend of Janette, Melissa, who had organized the healing circle parties, called me to give me the sad news yesterday. Today I phoned to express my condolences to her family and to find out if they were planning services for Janette. Her son said that Janette had stated from the very beginning that she didnâ€™t want a memorial service. I could believe that Janette wouldnâ€™t want a funeral with everyone in mourning, but I suggested that she might appreciate it if we celebrated her life. That sounded like a good idea to him and I think the family would be open to joining us in a Memorial Celebration, perhaps at the end of February on or near Janetteâ€™s birthday.

If you think thatâ€™s a good idea, please let me know. Right now I think we all are feeling grief and loss, but at some point we should remember and celebrate what a blessing and gift Janette was to all of us.

She sounds like such a sweet person. Whatever that smoke and dust contained has been devastating to those that breathed it. I really hope our Government acts fast and gets all the heroes and victims of that tragedy (that are left) some healthcare help.

Thank you for this very moving and beautiful story of this important woman. I had missed the full story of Janet MacKinlay though remember reading about how a woman in NYC apt provided dust samples to Prof. Jones, now knowing it was her. I will visit the above web sites and learn more about her and the important role she played in the movement, and obviously she will inspire so many to reveal the truth of 911.

Rest In Peace, Dear Janette ... me too i had a chance to talk with you, to admire your art at an Oakland theater exhibit festival. 911 Truth.

I called Janette A Lady who helped to bring down a war empire. A LADY WHO BROUGHT DOWN A WAR EMPIRE.
Which one is better?:/

Janette's life, art, destiny and a providence forever will be remembered. A providence with which she brought down singlehandedly, with a handful of Dust of Truth, the mightiest war empire ever mushroomed and parasiting on the face of people's Earth.

Janette's life and destiny shall forever be written unto the glorious history of American nation, as a grand, historical and providential turn of events, in the time most needed, to correct the course of a grand nation, to remind a once benign empire and it's war leaders that they lost their way, that they betrayed the nation, it's people who gave the nation its birth, it's existence and its might, and which has now been hijacked by a war empire faction, surrepetitiously and behind the backs of a nation, in order to carry out foolish indefensible foreign expansion wars.

Only in America. .. There is a freedom of speech - because we are willing to speak.
American might through peace, justice, truth, friendship and prosperity.

Rest in peace, Janette, and please know that you have a place in our hearts, and in the American history, forever.
911 Truth.

And thank you Janette for your great service to the 9/11 Truth-seeking effort. I will miss you, my dear friend.
Memories of our speaking together, at Berkeley, Davis and elsewhere remain close to my heart.
I must mention the gifts of WTC dust that you graciously gave to me and other scientists, which have opened up the investigation into the striking presence of unexploded red chips in the dust as well as iron-aluminum-rich spheres in that dust. The same dust which afflicted you, dear friend, bears smoking-gun evidence for the true cause of the destruction of the WTC Towers and WTC 7.

Thank you for your unfailing generosity, Jeanette. You will be sorely missed -- and always appreciated.
Prof. Steven E. Jones

I had the pleasure of meeting and conversing with Janette in Santa Cruz, and also at the February 2007 9/11 Accountability Conference in Chandler AZ. It was with much sadness that I heard the news of her passing.

The gift of the 9/11 dust samples to Dr. Steven Jones was a wonderful gesture on behalf of humanity and civilization; Dr. Jones' team did what NIST and every other government agency either refused, or failed to do, or possibly even ordered not to do: a real, non-politicized analysis of the destruction of the World Trade Center via the scientific method. The findings presented in the resulting paper indicate that the powers-that-be both lied and covered up the causes of the Twin Towers' and WTC destruction, and as a result of the exposure of these lies, *EVERY* aspect of their story must be considered suspect at the very best.

Janette's action in providing these priceless samples is a permanent legacy to not only her foresight and intuition, but also her sense of justice and patriotism. She was a national hero in life, and in death, let us all hope that what she did will be instrumental in bringing the perpetrators to justice. When one considers that 4000 other human lives were snuffed out on that day and in the decade that followed, the scale of the evil nature of those who carried out the attacks is mind boggling.... and they are still on the loose.

Following is a poem on Death I wrote in 1979, and shared at a friend's memorial service in 2001, who was shot dead by Police in a Church in Brattleboro, Vermont, while seeking "political sanctuary.". I remind myself of it now.. feeling a great loss by this news of Janette's recent parting, but hope remains eternal as what is true inevitably may set us free. To Janette's family and friends, love and thanksgivings. May beauty like Janette and her artwork never lose touch with the reality that connects us all in the spirit that remains true forever. She was such a gift in our world. Thanks Carol for posting.

The unknown journey tells us of lives past,
What's behind the sky and how long we can last.

Blight and perish, then return Creation to your chore never ending,
Though it appears dim sometimes because the tunnel winds,
But beyond the next bend the illumined mind might find a permeating ray.

Embracing life, colors blend, light filters through,
I am what I am.
The only death that came to be was to that of mystery,
As life has a way of renewing and cleansing,
And with the purpose of growth, the spirit will always be unending.